draft tomales bay vessel management plan - Gulf of the Farallones ...

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I.I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION A. PURPOSE AND NEED The Tomales Bay Draft Vessel Management Plan (TBVMP) is the result of a long-term multi-agency effort to streamline and coordinate vessel management activities for the benefit of the public. The TBVMP aims to improve water quality, protect wildlife and habitat, protect public health and ensure recreational opportunities in Tomales Bay. It was developed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS) staff and the California State Lands Commission (CSLC) staff in collaboration with nine other local, state and federal agencies with jurisdiction in Tomales Bay collectively known as the Tomales Bay Interagency Committee (TBIC). GFNMS has been vested with the authority, in accordance with the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA; 16 U.S.C 1431-1445c), to provide comprehensive and coordinated conservation and management of 967.8 square nautical miles of nearshore and offshore waters and submerged lands off California. Since its designation in 1981, GFNMS has the authority to regulate certain activities within its boundaries, pursuant to the NMSA. The primary objective of the NMSA is resource protection, which is carried out in regulations codified at 15 CFR Part 922, and through the issuance of permits and coordination with other local, state, and federal agencies and by outreach, education, research, monitoring, and enforcement. The GFNMS Management Plan is the site-specific planning and management document that guides the operation of the sanctuary for the next five to ten years, helping the sanctuary set budget and project priorities each year in preparation of its annual operating plan (GFNMS, 2008). The management plan was developed during a multi-year public process that identified priority sanctuary resource management issues. This plan includes a resource protection strategy (Strategy RP-12) that directs GFNMS, in coordination with ten other local, state and federal agencies, to develop and implement “a comprehensive plan to ensure the protection of water quality, wildlife, habitats, and safety in Tomales Bay.” The strategy includes specific guidance to address vessel management issues such as moorings and moored vessels, sewage waste disposal, derelict and abandoned vessels, and other habitat and water quality issues in the bay. Strategy RP-12 is being implemented through the development of the TBVMP. CSLC was established in 1938 with authority detailed in Division 6 of the California Public Resources Code. CSLC manages nearly 4 million acres of "Sovereign Lands" underlying the state's navigable and tidal waterways, including the beds of more than 120 rivers, streams and sloughs; nearly 40 non-tidal navigable lakes; the tidal navigable bays and lagoons including Tomales Bay; and, the tide and submerged lands adjacent to the entire coast and offshore islands of the state from the mean high tide line to three nautical miles offshore. Persons who place moorings on ungranted sovereign land under the jurisdiction of the CSLC are required to obtain a lease from the CSLC. While most of the moorings on the bay are located on these “sovereign lands”, the vast majority are not currently authorized August 23, 2012 8
y a CSLC lease or permit from GFNMS or any other resource protection agency and are therefore considered in trespass and illegal. The TBVMP addresses the following issues: 1) Planning for Sewage Services; 2) Planning for Oil and Bilge Services; 3) Adopting a Tomales Bay Mooring Program that addresses the issue of illegal moorings and provides a mechanism to allow for limited moorings on the bay while meeting the mandates and regulations of GFNMS and CSLC; 4) Outlining a Boater Education and Outreach Plan; and 5) Preventing the Introduction of Introduced Species. The TBVMP is consistent with the Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning and has been scaled to the specific needs of the agencies that regulate and the people who use Tomales Bay (Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, 2009). Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) is one of the nine priority objectives proposed in the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force (Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, 2009). The plan also implements the mandates and regulations of both GFNMS and CSLC. It represents extensive input from the boating community and other local stakeholders, and addresses numerous issues including vessel sewage discharge, impacts from moorings, derelict or deserted vessels, introduction of invasive species, disturbance of wildlife, and discharges of oil, fuel, and vessel maintenance products. GFNMS has regulatory authority over all these issues, and the applicable regulations can be found at 15 CFR Part 992 Subpart H. Goals and Objectives The participating agencies developed the following set of goals and objectives for the TBVMP, which represent the collective agency mandates to protect public health and ecological resources in Tomales Bay: 1. Protect public health and improve water quality by: • Preventing the improper discharge of vessel-related sewage; • Preventing the discharge of oil, gas, and toxic substances including vessel maintenance products; • Providing adequate facilities for proper sewage disposal; • Designating Tomales Bay as a No-Discharge Zone for vessels under the Clean Water Act (CWA), following installation of sewage services; • Addressing vessel desertion and abandonment of harmful matter aboard deserted vessels; • Removing and preventing illegal and inappropriate mooring materials; • Removing abandoned or deserted vessels; and • Reducing closures of commercial shellfish harvest due to poor water quality. 2. Protect habitat and decrease threats to and disturbance of wildlife by: August 23, 2012 9
Page 1 and 2: DRAFT TOMALES BAY VESSEL MANAGEMENT
Page 3 and 4: • Gene Maffucci, Herring Fishman
Page 5 and 6: 5. Aquaculture 6. Recreational and
Page 7: MSD NCDEM NDZ NEPA NMSA NOAA NPS NS
Page 11 and 12: habitats, and special status specie
Page 13 and 14: With certain exceptions, GFNMS regu
Page 15 and 16: TBVMP is contingent upon availabili
Page 17 and 18: Table 1 (Continued): Proposed Actio
Page 19 and 20: Table 1 (Continued): Proposed Actio
Page 21 and 22: Due to existing limited resources a
Page 23 and 24: esembles a large sink basin, often
Page 25 and 26: ecommendation to Marin County or NP
Page 27 and 28: Even at low concentrations, some co
Page 29 and 30: Activity OS 2.2 - Compile and analy
Page 31 and 32: Surveys of moorings in Tomales Bay
Page 33 and 34: Because moored vessels can cause ir
Page 35 and 36: There are two identified navigation
Page 37 and 38: Figure 1: Map of Proposed Tomales B
Page 39 and 40: Figure 1b: Map of Proposed Tomales
Page 41 and 42: Mooring Zone 9: This proposed zone
Page 43 and 44: the TBVMP, CSLC staff will include
Page 45 and 46: hydrodynamic conditions while allow
Page 47 and 48: Activity VM 3.2 - Continue to imple
Page 49 and 50: Activity VM 4.1 - Conduct an analys
Page 51 and 52: • Respect wildlife; • Prevent t
Page 53 and 54: Potential Partner Agencies: NPS, CC
Page 55 and 56: GFNMS staff, with partners, will di
Page 57 and 58: Figure 2: Tomales Bay Locator Map A
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Additionally, water quality impairm
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Figure 4: Public Health and Water Q
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Figure 4b: Public Health and Water
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Human Environment - Vessel Moorings
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Figure 5 - Existing Moorings in Tom
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Figure 5b - Existing Moorings in To
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Figure 6: Map of Proposed Tomales B
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Figure 6b: Map of Tomales Bay Moori
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Figure 7 - Shoreline Restroom Facil
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Tomales Bay State Park State 1. Hea
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Figure 8a: Public Safety Siting Cri
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Figure 8c: Public Safety Siting Cri
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TABLE 3 — TOMALES BAY AQUACULTURE
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agricultural uses with a trend towa
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C. BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT Biologica
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Several species of marine mammals h
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Figure 9: Natural Resource Protecti
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Figure 9b: Natural Resource Protect
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Masking ADDITIONAL REFERENCES S STU
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Duarte, C. M., J. J. Middelburg, an
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North Carolina Department for Envir
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Masking ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MASKING Th
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I. INTRODUCTION PURPOSE AND SCOPE O
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ut are not limited to, the beds of
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Table 1 (Continued): Proposed Actio
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Table 1 (Continued): Proposed Actio
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TABLE 2 — SUMMARY OF IMPACT ASSES
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significant threat to seagrass habi
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Impacts of the No Action Alternativ
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Pathogens in human and animal waste
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• In Santa Barbara, the cost of m
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V. NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND CEQA EN
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VI. CEQA ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST Th
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Potentially Significant Impact Less
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d) A substantial temporary or perio
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Discussion (a - f) Highway 1 and Si
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VII. REFERENCES CITED IN THIS ENVIR
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San Francisco Bay Regional Water Qu
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Pinnipeds—Aquatic carnivorous mam
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acts on appeals regarding certain l
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leasing of state lands for marinas,
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and Public Property) on land and wa
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are not subject to the MSD regulati
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The CCC’s enforcement tools inclu
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2-SS 3-SS 4-SS 5-SS 6-SS 7-SS The A
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3-MC The Advisory Council supported
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7-MZ Recommends that at mooring zon
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5-PP The Advisory Council recommend
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days of notification, then it will
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• CSLC does not guarantee that a
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Rode: • Chain, if used, and all m
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• If the mooring lease applicatio
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DECISION TREE FOR OBTAINING AN
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AAPPENDIX VII: MOORING ANCHOR PULL
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lbs. This minimum far exceeds the h
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